Judi Franco’s new friend is a New York City ‘cabbie’

A few nights ago, I took a trip into New York City with my three sisters to see a Broadway show and on our way to the theater, I decided to chat up the taxi driver.

I don't normally do this, but since I was relegated to ride shotgun and my sisters were separated from me by plexiglass, I kind of had no choice. He did look like a kind, sweet guy, though, so I was kind of curious about where he came from and what his story was.

After years of switching over to Uber, I had forgotten how interesting and colorful New York taxi drivers can be. Remember, Uber drivers are generally just people driving "on the side" but taxi drivers are full-time drivers: That's what they do. That's what they devote themselves to and pride themselves in.

They get the opportunity to meet and learn more about people than in a lot of other New York City occupations. Thus, many of them have a lot of life wisdom to share.

Our driver, Nur Mohammed, was a cool, upbeat and charming Bangladeshi. He shared pictures of his beautiful young wife and his mom. We talked about his being Muslim and how his passengers respond to him.

At first, I was just a bored passenger striking up a conversation with a stranger, but the next thing you knew, we were friends.